1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber connector, more particularly, to an optical fiber connector which can be manufactured by a simple process and having a low cost.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical fibers have been widely used in the field of communication such as video, audio transmission, since such a transmission medium has many known advantages such as high accuracy. However, the optical fiber cannot be connected to an optical fiber connector in the same way as the metal wire which can be directly soldered to a connector. A specifically designed optical fiber connector is necessary for the optical fiber so that the optical fiber can be conveniently connected to a device via the optical fiber connector.
A conventional optical fiber connector is shown in FIG. 4. The optical fiber connector comprises a casing 50, a lower hemicylindrical piece 51 extending from the casing 50, an upper hemicylindrical piece 55 to be engaged with the lower hemicylindrical piece 51, a connection head 60, a flexible portion 62, and an exterior tube 65. As can be seen in FIG. 4, an optical fiber 70 is enclosed by a shield 75 and extends to an end of the connection head 60.
The lower hemicylindrical piece 51 has a pair of projections 52 respectively formed on a front portion of each of two edges thereof, a pair of recesses 53 respectively defined in a rear portion of each of the two edges, and a flange 54 formed on a middle portion of an inner wall thereof. The upper hemicylindrical piece 55 has a pair of recesses 56 (only one is shown) respectively defined in a front portion of each of two edges thereof, another pair of recesses 57 (only one is shown) respectively defined in a rear portion of each of the two edges thereof, and a tongue 59 defined by two slots 58 defined therein. The tongue 59 has an engaging piece 590. When the upper hemicylindrical piece 55 is combined with the lower hemicylindrical piece 51, the two projections 52 extend into the two recesses 56, respectively, to engage the lower hemicylindrical piece 51 and the upper hemicylindrical piece 55 with each other. Each of the two recesses 53 and a corresponding one of the two recesses 57 define a slot when the lower hemicylindrical piece 51 and the upper hemicylindrical piece 55 are combined together.
The connection head 60 is used for holding the optical fiber 70 with the shield 75 provided therearound. The connection head 60 is disposed on a base 61. A stepped neck 63 is provided following the base 61. The stepped neck 63 has a pair of posts 64 formed thereon to extend into the two slots respectively defined by the recesses 53 and 57 when the connection head 60 extends into a central through hole defined in the casing 50. The flexible portion 62 is provided behind the stepped neck 63 to allow the optical fiber 70 to flex.
For assembling the optical fiber connector, as mentioned above, the connection head 60 extends through the central through hole of the casing 50, the upper hemicylindrical piece 55 is engaged with the lower hemicylindrical piece 51 by the projections 52 extending into the recesses 56, and the two posts 64 extend into the two slots defined by the recesses 53 and 57. Finally, the resultant product extends into the exterior tube 65 and the engaging piece 590 extend through an engaging slot 66 defined in the exterior tube 65, so that the exterior tube 65 is firmly combined with the resultant product, and an optical fiber connector is completed.
As can be seen from FIG. 4 and the above descriptions, the structure of the conventional optical fiber connector is very complicated. In addition, defective products are often generated in the injection molding process, since some components of the conventional optical fiber connector have many projections and recesses, and the manufacture cost is also increased.